125k connections made to Cambridge’s new wireless internet network in space of a week – with demand peaking during Tour de France

20/06/14 City centre wifi network launched
20/06/14 - Free public Wifi has been installed within new street lights Cambridge City Centre - Pictured on Parker's Piece are Noelle Godfrey from Connecting Cambridgeshire and Jon Holgate of Head of Network Camb

More than 125,000 different devices have connected to Cambridge’s new wireless internet network in the space of a week.

The seven days around the Tour de France’s visit to the city were the busiest yet for the free service, with in excess of 20,000 gadgets logging on during the day itself.

Cambridge University, which runs the wi-fi, said it was “pleased” with how the network had performed, while conceding there were still some technical glitches to be ironed out.

However, internet users have complained of problems getting a connection, and slow data transfer once they do get online.

Jon Holgate, the university’s head of networks, said: “The system was always meant to continue beyond the Tour de France and we are pleased with the way it performed on this once-in-a-lifetime day with more than 20,000 devices connected, transferring exceptional levels of data traffic throughout the day.

“We are investigating the statistics further but it appears some of the 25 new city centre points stopped accepting new sessions mid-morning, but continued to offer reasonable service to the devices already connected.

“Since its launch the system has handled hundreds of thousands of devices. Last week alone more than 125,000 unique devices connected and the majority of those were through the Cloud public wi-fi.”

The wireless network covers much of the Tour route, including Parker’s Piece, the market square and Senate House Hill.

More than 20 transmitters have been fitted on public buildings and lampposts, including the new lighting on Parker’s Piece, which was specially engineered to accommodate the technology.

The project was supported by local authorities through the Connecting Cambridgeshire agency, which is working to bring faster internet connections to the county.

Programme director Noelle Godfrey said: “It was fantastic achievement to have the new free wi-fi up and running in time for the Tour de France and we are delighted so many people could use it to share their experiences of the day.

“This is just the start of our plans to extend public access wi-fi more widely as part of our programme to improve the digital infrastructure across the county.”